The Sims 4 | Sims Customisation and Character Interactions | FTW September 2013
dmcdonagh
2013-09-13
It the Royal Family of video gaming, it's always there, it's always a source of fascination and we wouldn't have it any other way. The Sims 4 is coming! The Sims 4 producer Graham Nardone joins Matt Littler and Darren Jeffries at gamescom 2013 to discuss the next instalment in the series.
The fundamental elements of The Sims that have generated its popularity over the years will be present in this new title, though with numerous added features and enhancements. Interactions between Sims have been heavily focused on, with characters displaying more emotion and realistic awareness of their environment. Sims can interact in groups rather than couples, creating relatable and recognisable scenarios that are expected in a simulator.
The creative tools that are a staple of the franchise have been upgraded to include more hands-on controls that allow the player to fine-tune their creations. Buildings are now hand-moulded to the player's liking, with the tools available more accessible and easy to use. Players can also manipulate all aspects of their Sim, freely shaping them into whatever design they desire.
Come to life in The Sims 4, the much anticipated life simulation game that will let you play with life like never before. In The Sims 4, create new Sims with intelligence and emotion. Experience all new intuitive and fun creative tools to sculpt your Sims and build unique homes. Control the mind, body, and heart of your Sims, and bring your stories to life in The Sims 4.
It's been three years since the last main entry in the series. How have the Sims progressed since then?
So the big thing that we're bringing to The Sims 4 is this idea of emotional interactions with your Sims and really bringing those emotions to life in believable and intelligent ways.
What else has been carried over to The Sims 4 and what has stayed the same?
We're bringing over all the elements that people love, but we are re-imagining them in new ways. So stuff like our creative tools, they've always been really powerful tools in the past, We wanted to make them very approachable whilst still retaining all that power though, now you go into Create-A-Sim and you're just, pushing, pulling, poking and grabbing. It's changes your Sim, it's very tactile that direct manipulation and it's the exact same thing with our Build Mode where you are going in and grab a room and you can drag out the sides of it. You can pick it up, drop it down and everything moves with it.
Another new feature is to mold your Sims, kind of creating them the way you want them to be which is amazing.
You can give one a long nose if you fancy... Well that's what I've been doing when I demo the game. Yank out the nose and then I'll put a little crook in it and I'll twist it down a little so they look quite evil.
You can be quite cruel if you want to!
Yeah, and that's one of the aspects that people have always loved about the Sims.
Can you give us an example of how emotion plays a part?
We have this new technology that we're calling Smart Sim and a big part of it is conversations. So when I'm talking both of you guys are looking at me and that makes sense and we've never had that in a Sims game before. You know, when you just jump in and say something we both pivot and look at you and that's a lot of the group dynamics that we're trying to go for to bring these Sims to life. You know, we talk about their AI and their intelligence and all that but really it's about simulating life in believable ways, and that's so cool.
